Friday, August 17, 2018

Unemployment rates were lower in July in 11 states, higher in 2 states, and stable
in 37 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Ten states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and 40
states and the District had little or no change. The national unemployment rate
edged down by 0.1 percentage point from June to 3.9 percent and was 0.4 point
lower than in July 2017.
...
Hawaii had the lowest unemployment rate in July, 2.1 percent. The rate in Oregon
(3.9 percent) set a new series low. (All state series begin in 1976.) Alaska had
the highest jobless rate, 6.9 percent. In total, 15 states had unemployment rates
lower than the U.S. figure of 3.9 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia
had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from
that of the nation.emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the number of states (and D.C.) with unemployment rates at or above certain levels since January 1976.

At the worst of the great recession, there were 11 states with an unemployment rate at or above 11% (red).

Currently only one state, Alaska, has an unemployment rate at or above 6% (dark blue).